This past weekend, the Blue Valley boys varsity soccer team played at the State competition in Topeka, Kansas. For the seniors, it was their last time they would get to play soccer for the high school, including senior Gavin Ruder who has played for BV all four years.

“I have continued to play soccer because of the guys around me,” Ruder said. “They made me want to play and I knew we would be great one day.”

Last Friday, the boys played against Dodge City and lost 2-1 in overtime. 

“The first game was a hard-caught battle,” Ruder said. “We played our hearts out. I think the score doesn’t show how we played.”

It was upsetting for the team and Ruder to no longer have a chance of winning State, however, they didn’t’ have long to think about it.

“It was a little sad because we knew we were that close to State, but we had to [refocus] quick because we had a third-place game to play the next day.”

On Saturday, Blue Valley competed with Washburn Rural for third place, in which the Tigers won 2-1.

“We prepared the same and played with the same mentality,” Ruder said. “We were capable of winning by a lot more, but Washburn put up a good fight. We got the results we wanted, [and] we are glad we won our last game as a team together.”

Ruder recalls the win from the game as bittersweet.

“The tone was a little sad but mainly all smiles from us,” Ruder said. “We realized we had been playing with each other for all four years and that was it.”

For Ruder, this is possibly the end of his 14 years of soccer.

“High school [soccer was] the best days of my life,” he said. “Meeting all the guys and being around them all the time — I am definitely going to miss that for sure.”